Breaking stereotype! Or not!

Walking along the road yesterday evening, we found our way blocked by a young woman busy with her mobile phone. As we approached, however, she stepped to one side, still busy on her phone. Clearly a young woman who can multi-task. Not only that, but a young Spanish woman with sufficient spatial awareness to step out of the way of other pavement users. This is a rare thing. Of course, there is every possibility that we were jumping to conclusions. Perhaps she wasn't Spanish at all. Or perhaps some other factor entirely had caused her to change position on the pavement. 

A little later, in the Mid Century cafe, we watched a mother install herself at a table with her two children, aged about four and six. This cafe not only plays excellent music and has a quite reliable wifi connection, not to mention a friendly young lady owner, but also provides colouring books and coloured pencils to entertain customers' children. What a splendid idea. More places should follow suit. Perhaps it's María's experience of certain of her customers' children trying to do a runner and head off down the street at a furious rate of knots that has made her think of ways to keep them occupied. 

Anyway, as this little family settled itself in the small boy, the younger of the two, pushed past his mother, almost knocking her off her seat, slammed into two chairs at our table and shook our table in the process. Fortunately he did not manage to spill our drinks. "¡Ay, caramba, hijo!" said his mother "!Que bruto eres!" Roughly translated, "Good grief, son! How rough you are." This was not really a reprimand. It was said in quite dulcet tones; an initial expression of surprise and then a kind of recognition of his admirable masculinity. No suggestion that he might be reminded to apologise to the people (us) whose table he had jostled! Boys will be boys! His slightly older sister just got on with things with no fuss whatsoever. Both children, however, then entertained themselves very nicely while Mamá and Papá had a drink in peace. 

We were amused to hear the word "caramba" being used. This is probably the first time I have heard it in everyday use in I don't know how long, if at all. It is the expression of surprise that was always used in our grammar school Spanish text books, Nos Ponemos en Camino (we are setting off) and Seguimos Adelante (we continue on our way), no doubt regarded as terribly old fashioned nowadays. It is the word that we use jokingly between ourselves to express surprise at this and that. And over breakfast this morning Phil, having expressed his astonishment at something or other, remarked on the young woman's use of it, just before I did so. Sometimes life is stranger than text books. 

As a rule, when we hear people express their surprise it is with somewhat cruder words like "!joder!", "!jolín! (a milder version, I think, of "!joder!", rather like "what the heck!" instead of "what the hell!" In English) or the universally used and very sexist "!coño!".